Holster, bullets found near Glynn County commissioner's body

Police found an empty holster and unfired bullets belonging to a Glynn County commissioner inside his car about 150 yards from where the coastal Georgia official's dead body was discovered by a docked boat, according to a list of evidence contained in a police report.

The report by Glynn County police also says two empty prescription bottles were collected from the car of Commissioner Tom Sublett. Friends found Sublett's car and body early Dec. 11 on St. Simons Island after he failed to return home from a poker game with friends.

An autopsy determined that Sublett, 52, drowned after a gunshot to the head. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation's medical examiner still has not determined whether the death was a homicide or suicide. Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said Wednesday that either remains a possibility.

"The fact of the matter is suicide has not been ruled out," Doering said. "It is still being investigated as a homicide because we've not yet looked at all the evidence."

Doering declined to discuss the evidence listed in the police report or say whether investigators have found a gun. Mike McDaniel, the GBI agent in charge of the investigation, also declined to comment.

Police said Sublett, 52, was last seen at about 10:30 p.m. Dec. 10 when he dropped off a friend who had ridden with him to the poker game at the home of one of Sublett's business partners. The commissioner's wife called friends and police the next morning after he failed to come home.

Sublett's car was found about 4 a.m. on a bluff overlooking the Frederica River. His body was discovered about two hours later at a marina about 150 yards away.

The report released by Glynn County police this week said Sublett's wallet was recovered with his driver's license and credit cards still inside. Doering said the wallet was in the commissioner's back pocket.

The police report contained a list of other evidence gathered that includes a holster found in the front of Sublett's car and a magazine loaded with 9mm ammunition in the center console. Two other calibers of handgun bullets -- .38 special and .357 magnum -- also were recovered from the car, and Doering said they belonged to the commissioner.

In the back seat, police found two empty prescription bottles. One had the label ripped off and the words "Tom Vit" on the cap, the report said. The other was labeled with a prescription for Sublett's wife for dextroamphetamine and amphetamine - a stimulant combination often used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy, a disorder that causes people to fall asleep suddenly.

The report says police also recovered five black zip-tie straps from the scene. Doering declined to say where the plastic ties were found or comment on their possible significance. Investigators also took Sublett's laptop and personal papers found in his computer bag - items that also were in the car.

Police and GBI agents have scoured the marina and adjacent riverside park, and sent divers into the river to search for clues. Authorities have not disclosed what, if anything, they have found or specified what they're looking for. But Doering said Wednesday that he's asked for more divers to continue searching the riverbed.

Officials in Glynn County, on the Georgia coast about 60 miles south of Savannah, are offering $50,000 in reward money for information leading to an arrest or conviction if Sublett's death is found to have resulted from foul play.

Sublett, who sold commercial real estate, was finishing his first and only term on the seven-member Glynn County Commission at the time of his death. His term expired Dec. 31, and he had decided not to seek re-election.

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